


Behind the Ivory

by MrsHighwind



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Autopsy mention, Gunshot Wounds, Hojo (mention), Light Angst, Lucrecia (mention), Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22093594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsHighwind/pseuds/MrsHighwind
Summary: Vincent wakes up after confronting Hojo in the basement of the Shinra Mansion.
Kudos: 6





	Behind the Ivory

The first thing that hits me is the smell. Stale urine and shit, damp earth and the sweet stench of decaying books. There’s the faintest hint of rotting flesh and what I am sure is mako. I can taste blood and vomit. I become aware that I'm laying on my back, on something hard and uneven. I'm cold, and the cold seems to have seeped into every part of me. 

It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust, there's a large, bright light directly above me. I take in the room. Books line most of the walls, continuing down a corridor and into a small study at the end. I don't know where am, but I feel as though I should and I search unsuccessfully for an answer.

I take a few large breathes, but I don't seem able to fill my lungs. My chest feels tight, and I feel pulling. I claw at my shirt, a brown crust of blood circles a hole in the fabric. A gunshot? Tearing it open, I stare down at my torso in disbelief. Stitches, crudely and hastily sewn, form a large 'Y' beginning at just below my collar bone and ending just above my groin. With shaking hands, I trace the stitches. On the left side of my stomach, there is a finger sized hole and that too has been sewn closed. The dried blood clings to the wound, but the skin around is clean, as though I've been washed. I have been washed, cut open and redressed. Carefully, I push myself up onto my elbows. I stare down at my trousers, embarrassed and repulsed by what I see as I realise where some of the foul smell is coming from. There's a dark stain on the crotch - at some point I've soiled myself.

At this point, my brain tells me I should be panicking but the rest of my body doesn't get the message. It doesn't occur to me until much later, but I don't feel any pain. I don't feel anything.

I attempt to remember the last few days, try desperately to make sense of what I'm seeing. Hazy and disjointed feelings, Lucretia, Hojo, I keenly remember rage, but the reason won't come. A flash and a pop. Burning pain, a warm, wet feeling, followed by cold emptiness and then nothing. Oblivion.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.
> 
> This was meant to be part of a longer story but I never took it any further. I found it in an old folder and thought it was rather good and it could be worth sharing.  
> Maybe I’ll come back to it in the future.


End file.
